big oil leak..did search...need personal help *pics added*

[enercity]

well, I got under my car tonight just to clean up the tons of oil that is all over the bottom of my engine and try to maybe figure out where it is coming from. I can post pictures later.

I noticed there was a lot of fresh oil kinda by my passenger side engine mount and it was totally covered in it. It's basically all over the bottom of my engine but I noticed it drips mostly onto the passenger side of my plastic cover thingy under my car. I think it's coming more from the front of my engine. Anybody know what this could be? Oil pan gasket? Front main seal? What?
thanks!

-tom

[Jon325i]

Pics would definately help :P

First, you don't mention specifically what E30 you have.....but I'm guessing from the description of your cars' problem you have some form of a 325. As for what may be causing oil to get all over your passenger side engine mount, you do have your oil filter nearby as well as the your oil cooler lines in the same vicinity. If any of these are loose/failing/etc. a lot of oil passes through here and thus the potential for a big mess.

The oilpan gasket is below your engine mount so I'm hesitant to speculate this being the source of your leak. You could have a bad valvecover gasket...but if its leaking all kinds of oil it would likely land on your exhaust manifold first....creating that not-so-fragrant oil burn smell.

I'm not sure what else could be the problem.....someone else may chime in with a suggestion of what to look for. In the meantime, get yourself some Castrol SuperClean (Kragen, AutoZone, etc. carries it). This is the stuff to use if you want to clean up an oily mess. A powerwasher helps too......just keep the spray away from electricals.

Jon

[Axxe]

If it's M20 powered, my money is on the oil filter housing. I had oil all over the passenger mount until I got the rebuild kit from BavAuto (before I knew about BMA), and it solved the leak.

[e30Matt]

Does the oil look like it's coming from the head area, or more towards the bottom end?

Possibly a valve cover gasket or (if you have an M42 and it hasn't had the warranty service performed) the profile gasket.

[JeffG]

When diagnosing/fixing oil leaks, here's a suggestion: start from the top and go down from there. that thought has been very helpful to me while sourcing and fixing leaks.

-Jeff

[enercity]

thanks a lot for the help guys.

I have an 88 325ix.

It's definitely not coming from the top of the engine. Something more towards the bottom. Axxe- how much did the oil filter housing rebuild kit thing cost? did you fix it yourself? how hard was it?

[blunttech]

thanks a lot for the help guys.

I have an 88 325ix.

It's definitely not coming from the top of the engine. Something more towards the bottom. Axxe- how much did the oil filter housing rebuild kit thing cost? did you fix it yourself? how hard was it?

the kit hes talking about is like 6 or 7 bucks and comes with a new o ring. its more clumbsy that anything and your car being an ix may make it moreso but i dont know that. i cut off a broomstick and pushed up on the quarter sized circular thermo piece. theres somewhat of a circlip in there. be careful not to score the inner wall when removing it. replace the oring and push it back up in there with the broomstick and replace the circlip. if you have 3 hands its easier. youre going to get oily

[Axxe]

thanks a lot for the help guys.

I have an 88 325ix.

It's definitely not coming from the top of the engine. Something more towards the bottom. Axxe- how much did the oil filter housing rebuild kit thing cost? did you fix it yourself? how hard was it?

I took the whole oil filter housing off the block to replace the o-ring and circlip. It was less than $10 from BavAuto IIRC. If you have circlip pliers it's a very easy task.

[enercity]

should I drain my oil before doing this? I'll post pics of under my car later today if I can to help you guys diagnose the problem better.

thanks!

-tom

[enercity]

also, how much oil did it leak out before you rebuilt th housing? Cause mine leaks quite a bit. I'll be parked somewhere for a very short amount of time and when I leave there'll be a maybe 2.5-3" spot after I leave. I think it mostly only leaks when it's running and right after I turn off my car though. I don't think it leaks much when it's not running.

[enercity]

okay, got some pics. These are the night after I cleaned some stuff up.

Sorry, not the best/clearest pictures, but the best I could get at the time. These are all pictures of the area by my passenger engine mount.









How much oil leaked within an hour of being parked. All probably leaked in the first few minutes of being parked.

[uflnuceng]

Dude... seriously, first I would recommend you get that oil repair kit. BavAuto has it (although i am hating them right now cos they suck) or you can go to your dealer. Pain in the ass to do because the circlip is very thick and doesn't want to go in.

Next, I would go to a power washer and wash that engine area down. cover your ignition coil and spark plugs and try and focus the spray around that spot because I can hardly see a thing in those pictures. If you can't spray it get a wire metal brush and scrub it down, some Grease Lightening and a lot of f*ing paper towels. That will help you track down the path easier.

That was the symptom of my M20 325i. It would leak a good amount of oil for about an hour after running and replacing that seal around the oil temp sensor helped a lot. Bentley has a decent writeup on it I think.

[enercity]

I know. :D

[enercity]

wait, oil temp sensor? Is that in the oil filter housing too or is that another thing? should I replace both? can someone give me some links of writeups and what not?

thanks

[enercity]

what all is down there that I need to cover up and what would I cover them up with?

haha, thanks again!